Finding Where I Belong
by Hikari Nami
Summary: What if Axl's life in Red Alert had been a total nightmare? What if the answers to his past lie with trusting X and Zero? Our favorite copy reploid will find the answers he seeks, but first he has to escape Red's tormenting grasp. rating may change
1. Grumpy Puppy

**Me: Alright… This story has been going around my head for the last few years, so I decided to write it down and post it. Unfortunately, I haven't posted any stories online in quite a while and a lot has changed: my pen name, my interests, thought patterns, etc. Anyway, I didn't like how X became such a whiny bitch in X7 (Srry X's fans, but ya gotta admit, he was pretty whiny) and stopped being a hunter and, also how Axl's defect from Red Alert was lightly skimmed over, so I decided to do my own story on how Axl joined the Hunters. The problem is: Axl is my favorite Megaman character (Forte is a close 2****nd****) and I about cried when I was thinking about some of the scenarios that I could put him through. WHY AM I BEING CRUEL TO MY FAV CHARACTER? **

**Axl: As long as you don't kill me or any of my friends, I forgive you.**

**Me: *glomps Axl* Then I profusely apologize for all the stories I write in the future.**

**Axl: *sweatdrop* Why did I just get a massive chill down my spine?**

**X: *flipping through a notebook titled 'misc. yaoi scenarios'* You…um…you really don't want to know.**

**Zero: *walks in with a large stack of notebooks* Hey, Nami. Where you want these?**

**Me: Over there on the desk. Does Emma have the rest?**

**Zero: She'll be here in a bit, she said something about tweaking a possibly 'deviously yummy and delicious situation' or something like that in a notebook labeled 'X and Axl'**

**Emma: I love it! *voiced from far away along with evil laughter***

***X and Axl pass out from shock***

**Me: …*evil grin* Thank you Emma. Emma Gold is my beta reader and one of my best friends. So now, on with the story… Zero, stop poking X with a stick.**

**Zero: Aw, but it's fun**

**Me: Don't make me call Spazz, she knows exactly how to deal with you.**

**Zero: You wouldn't dare!**

**Me: Do the disclaimer and I might reconsider.**

**Zero: HikariNami does not own anything in this story except the plot. All characters and places from the Megaman series are the property of Capcom. Thank you and enjoy the story.**

**Me: Good boy. *pets Zero***

**Zero: I hate you so much right now.**

**Emma: No you don't *voice moving slowly towards group with evil laughter still sounding***

**Zero: *shudders* Fangirls**

Chapter 1: Grumpy Puppy 

"X, what are we still doing here?" a red reploid with long blonde hair asked, with more than slightly irritated tone. "The mavericks are gone and I will not be happy if any Red Alert scum find us roaming around this dump," To emphasize his point the blonde swordsman kicked an empty bin that skid across the floor of the hallway they were walking down until it was stopped by a wall.

The Blue Bomber next to him sighed and chided his red partner, "Zero, the only reason the mavericks attacked this branch of Red Alert _and_ the surrounding area was because of the large energy surge that came from within this building."

"Doesn't mean I have to like being in enemy territory," The blonde muttered under his breath, but his blue comrade heard any way.

"I don't like it as much as you do, but we need to make sure there are no mavericks hiding in the building and to possibly find out what caused that energy surge, so either you start helping me look for anything worth reporting or shut up and continue following me like a lost puppy," X replied in an 'I'm irritated and you don't want to anger me farther' tone. This left the crimson swordsman to grumble under his breath. The blue reploid was an excellent comrade even when angered and he almost made the decision to quit the hunters, but thankfully didn't. X was the only person Zero saw worthy of being his partner, as no one else could keep with the swordsman's hectic battle style.

The building they were currently searching was a small branch of the infamous group of reploids called the Red Alert Syndicate, a band of bounty hunter reploids who took payments for any type of job involving Mavericks, anything from stealing information to assassinations. Based on what data the hunters had on the vicious faction, this building was in charge of research and development of new weapons and decoding of encrypted information for the members of Red Alert. Roughly 30 minutes prior, an enormous surge of power had emanated from the base and had attracted several mavericks, both large and small, to the small concrete building they were searching.

"X? Zero? Do you read me?" came a female voice over the communication line.

"Loud and clear, Alia. Despite being a small building, this place has a lot of area to cover. Do you have a location pinpointed for that energy surge?" X questioned the female and heard some typing coming over the line.

"We've managed to narrow down your search perimeter. The only thing we can tell that could possible emit such a high level of energy are one of the six generator stationed in the east wing. Take a left at the next intersection," Alia relayed.

"Roger," X said, cutting the connection and addressing his still grumbling partner. "Let's go, grumpy puppy."

"X…"

"Yes?"

"Don't make me shove my saber up your ass."

The generator rooms were heavily spaced apart and most of them were empty save for the bare minimum equipment that couldn't be removed without heavy lifters. However, something about the emptiness was beginning to bug them.

"Is it just me, or is this place lacking heavily in both equipment _and _staff?" Zero chirped, having finally quit his nearly inaudible complaining and focused on analyzing his surroundings.

"I noticed that too. As a place of research, there should be more activity then there currently is. Alia, do you copy?"

"I'm here. Seems you've already noticed, but we just got some data from our intelligence team. Apparently, all the research taking place in that building was moved roughly three weeks ago, about a week before that encounter you had with Red Alert at that energy plant when you caught them acquiring data from and assassinating those two mavericks," The navigator spoke.

"Thanks, Alia," X replied before cutting the connection once more. "Well that was informative."

"Yea and one of the loveliest encounters I've ever had," Zero commented sarcastically.

X frowned, "I know what you mean, but what bothers me the most is that, while we've run into Red Alert members before, we've rarely ever see Red among them. And usually it's never a good thing that he's there."

The red swordsman nodded, "Then there was that young-looking reploid with them. I don't remember ever seeing him with Red Alert before and we've cross paths numerous times."

The blue bomber frowned and began listing characteristics out loud as they searched yet another empty generator room. "Black and red chest armor, helmet, boots, and arm gauntlets with a hint of navy, red conduit lines on his stomach, white gloves, white ear comms that kinda remind me of cat ears that have red accents, grey body suit…"

Zero continued from there, "mostly likely male judging from the structure and movements, 'X' shaped scar right between the eyes, white attachments with red accents on his boots, mostly likely for hovering capabilities, light auburn hair, a blue head gem and a blue chest gem, both guarded with a protective covering, a white pack on his back with white blades protruding from them… That's everything I remember. What about you, buddy?"

X's body tensed and stopped walking, causing Zero to stop as well. Looking into his blue-armored comrade's eye, he saw immense sadness and raging fury dancing in those deep emerald eyes. Arching an eyebrow, the yellow-haired reploid waited for X's response, which didn't take long as he watched the bomber take a deep breath and managed to relax a bit before answering.

"His eyes…they are the one thing I remember quite vividly."

Zero's felt his eyes widened in surprise. When they saw him, the boy would not look at anyone, instead the black-armored child had keep his eyes firmly glued to the ground and followed Red around like a slave would to their master. He didn't know that his partner had made eye contact with the young reploid.

"When did you see his eyes?" he questioned, "I remember the kid kept them fixated on the ground."

X shivered, "He did. But when Red ordered him to pick up that suitcase that held the data they were after, I noticed how badly he flinched. I think you were too busy glaring at Red to notice, but it was when he was picking it the case that he looked up at me. That's when I looked into his eyes."

Zero didn't miss the shudder and wondered just how bad it was. While he did remember glaring viciously at Red, it had been because of how he was treating the boy. And he did remember seeing the boy flinch, that's what had made him glare at Red so badly in the first place.

"What about his eyes, X? What was wrong?"

Again, Zero didn't miss his partner's actions: clenched fists and tense shoulders. Whatever it was must have been really badly to get the usually optimistic, happy brunette to become such a high-strung ball of tense rage and unbridled fury.

X took another deep breath and released it slowly, "They were a deep green color, just a shade or two lighter than my own. But that's not the problem. There was nothing but pain and fear in those eyes, Zero! Nothing! The kid looked so broken and ready to burst into tears like he had done something terrible wrong! My eyes had only met his for a split second! But that was more than enough to know that that kid has been ruthlessly tortured and more than likely by Red's order!"

X was panting by the time his rant was finished. Staring at Zero with raging eyes that were just begging to rip something apart, the blonde could tell his comrade was extremely pissed off. Not much got under X's skin, he could handle mavericks attacking cities, he could deal with reploids having massive programming malfunctions, but seeing a reploid that young with such broken eyes angered him to the point of shouting at his best friend in frustration. To be completely honest, Zero could compare X's angry demeanor to that of an angry mother's with how mad he looked. And as quickly as the anger welled up, it just as quickly disappeared with deep sigh.

"Sorry, Z. I didn't mean to yell at you like that. I just…" the buster-wielder was cut off by a gentle hand on his shoulder. Looking up into icy sapphire eyes, he saw Zero had a small smile on his face.

"It's okay, X. It's in your nature to feel like this, so don't beat yourself up over using me as an outlet. I mean, come on, how many times have you listened to me rant and rave after training sessions because of a rookie's stupid mistake? I think you're overdue for a rant with how much you deal with me alone," This earned a smile from the blue reploid and a nod as a silent thought went through both their heads.

Maybe, if they got the chance, they could save that auburn-haired boy from Red and help him. Neither of them doubted that the boy would care one way or the other, as long as he got away from the torture that X saw in his eyes.

"Come on, X. We still have a couple more rooms to search."

"Right."

**Me: So, there's the first chapter. Originally, it was two, but with how I had it before, the 1****st**** chapter would have been **_**really**_** short, so I combined them. Please tell me what you think and…ZERO! What are you doing?**

**Zero: *who had managed to get the passed out X and Axl to cuddle like a mother would her child and started taking photos* What? They're cute like that.**

**Emma: So Kawaii! Can I have some copies?**

**Zero: Sure.**

**Me: When did you get here Emma?**

**Emma: Bout halfway through the story and…D'WAAAAAAAAAA! Axl is snuggling into X's chest! SO CUTE!**

**Me: *facepalm* What am I going to do with you two? **

**Zero & Emma: *too busy squealing and taking pictures at the cuteness to answer***

**Me: *deep sigh* Emma, close us out when you get the chance, please. Thank you. I need to find Spazz, maybe she can help me with the insanity.**

**Zero: Wait…WHAT? Nami, get back here. Don't bring that halo fanatic here, she'll rip me to shreds…and not in the battle sense either. In the…*shudders* fan-girl sense. NAMI! *runs after me in an attempt to stop the horror that was sure to happen***

**Emma: Please read and review. Thanks! *continues taking photos of the sleeping pair* X is such a mother….hehehehehe, uke…**


	2. Tortured Soul

**Me: Srry it took so long, guys. YAY! People favorited my story. Thanks ChaoCream for being my first reviewer and favoriter! And thanks to everyone who read my story. I didn't think it would turn out that good, but I feel a whole lot better now. (BTW love your repost list on your profile, ChaoCream. Wrking on going through them all)**

**Emma: Don't be so hard on yourself. It's not as bad as some of the things I've read. And don't forget, you've got your friends to help you make it better: me, Namikaze, Spazz, Zer_Wolf, and the whole Megaman crew.**

**Me: Speaking of which, where are those guys?**

**Emma: Well, remember when you went to get Spazz last chapter?**

**Me: Yay *sheepish look* got distracted with Megaman X7 hard mode (really hate Hyenard, I always mute my battle with him)**

**Emma: Well…**

***in the distance***

**Spazz: !**

**Zero: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! RUN AWAY!**

**X: Axl! Get that net ready, we gotta stop her!**

**Axl: X, she's a halo fan. A net's not gonna stop her.**

**X: But still, she gonna hurt Zero!**

**Axl: You're freaking out too much, uke.**

**X: I am no-… wait *confused look* what did you call me?**

**Axl: Nothing, just a title that fit you perfectly. Right, Nami? Emma?**

**Me: Yep**

**Emma: Absolutely**

***Spazz catches Zero and glomps him***

**Zero: GET HER OFF ME! PLEASE!**

**Emma: I think we should leave him there for a while.**

**Me: Agreed. Axl, would you do the honors?**

**Axl: Sure, HikariNami does not own anything in this story except the plotline, all things related to Megaman X are the property of Capcom. **

**Me: However, if I did own it, there would be a Megaman X9 and we would finally figure out what happened to Axl. WHAT DID THAT ******** LUMINE DO TO YOU? I really want to know. **

**Emma: It's okay. Let your imagination do the work.  
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**X: *holds up one of my many notebooks* I don't think that's a good idea.**

**Emma: Who asked you, uke? Now on with the story while I pass out copies of the pictures taken from last chapter to all that read, with plushies going to the ones that reviewed.**

**A/N I rewrote this chapter several times before I got it right, cause its one of the torture Axl chapters. *cries* I feel so ashamed to be a fanfiction writer right now. And there will be some swearing, but we're all big girls and boys, we can handle a few simple curse words. And the rating is T…for now, maybe. Well, enjoy!**

**-**_IAMTHESEPARATIONBAR-LOVEME!-_

Chapter 2: Tortured Soul

The final generator room they searched was the one farthest from the entrance and proved to be a successful find. Despite the darkness, the two reploids could see papers and boxes littered the floor as if a tornado had recently gone through the room. In the center of the large room sat a table, on the left wall was a line of computers, and several boxes and crates were situated on the right wall. The generator itself took up nearly the whole wall across from the door.

"There definitely seems to be something going on here," Zero commented walking up to the table to run his fingertips across it. "The place is abandoned, yet there's still energy going through this area an-"

The red reploid paused in his statement as he felt something sticky and slightly warm come in contact with the nerves in his hand. He lifted said appendage from where he had been swiping his fingertips across the table's surface. There on his glove, standing out heavily against its white material, was a thick liquidy red substance.

"X…" the swordsman said cautiously, motioning his partner over with his right hand, eyes fixated on his left. The blue bomber hurried to his side and caught sight of Zero's red-coated fingertips.

"What the… Zero, don't tell me that's…blood?"

"I'm afraid so. It's the same texture and smell. There's a more metallic scent to it, so it must be the synthetic blood of a reploid," Zero stated, a look of utter disgust on his face as he picked up a discarded rag to wipe his hand off with.

"There's so much of it," X commented, looking at the table's surface, switching his optic view to night vision, "A lot of it looks dry, but there's a fresh coat judging by your hand. When they abandoned their research here, do you think they turned this place into a…um."

The blue reploid gagged a bit and couldn't bring himself to it, but Zero knew what he was trying to say: torture chamber.

"It's possible. This much blood could only suggest something like that, because I don't think Red Alert is big on surgical procedures. Maybe something in here could give us a clue."

"Zero, what about that?"

The blonde raised his head to look where X was pointing. There was a laptop on top of a small table next to the generator that they hadn't noticed before. Next to it was a metal grey box that was bigger than Zero.

"What the hell is that thing?" he asked as the two approached it.

"The laptop's on, so maybe it can tell us," X said, as he began hacking into the laptop's systems.

"Just make sure you don't trip any alarms while you at it," Zero joked, which earned him a snort of amusement as they both knew that X was one of the top hackers in the Hunters and was unlikely to trip any security measures.

"It seems to be a record of different subjects, mostly pertaining to the status of a reploid. Energy levels, attack power, defense abilities, and speed that seem to be the condition of a single reploid. Then there's something labeled DNA data acquired."

Zero gave X a confused look, "DNA data acquired, what's that mean?"

"Probably means the core of a reploid. Most of the names listed are standard type reploids like Ruinsman, Runnerbomb, and others that are mass-produced."

"That makes sense but…" Zero once again paused, his attention focused on the metal box attached to the generator by several wires.

"What is it, Zero?" X whispered, thinking that an enemy was nearby, but his assumption was dissuaded by Zero's next statement.

"I thought I heard someone crying."

"Crying?"

Zero nodded. "Yea, it was faint, but it sounded as if it were coming from this crate over here. Think you can find a way to open it?" the red swordsman questioned as he approached said metal container to feel the edges for a manual way to access its interior.

"I'll see what I can do."

After several attempts, Zero gave up looking for an exterior switch and decided to go over to see how X was faring. However, as he turned to head to his comrade, he heard a triumphant, "Ah ha." come from the blue reploid's location.

"Got it?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.

X nodded before frowning, "I sure do, and it seems that crate is in fact a prison of sorts that disperses energy taken from the prisoner in large waves, which has the potential to attract virus-infected mechanaliods in the nearby area. I'm guessing we found what caused the power surge, cause there's a reploid energy signature emanating from inside."

Zero felt his jaw drop, then his eyes hardened, "Then let's gets them out before this madness continues. They're probably sick of being in the dark by now."

"Deactivating locks now."

A hiss echoed through the room as the pressure locks on the prison were released and a mechanical hum sounded as the front of the crate began to pull away, revealing the captive inside.

**(A/N: I was debating a cliffy here, but then decided to be merciful. XD, but I did take a break here)(Beta: I would have killed you Nami if you did and Axl couldn't have protected you)**

X and Zero peeked inside the box to see a whole mess of wires connecting the exterior walls to the reploid within. They watched as the cables disengaged themselves from the huddled form and retreated back into their compartments, allowing the hunters to see the reploid more clearly. It was a male reploid in civilian form (no armor) and wearing only a pair of navy blue boxer shorts. There was a black blindfold covering his eyes and his wrists were tied together by thick wire cables. His hair was pulled back into a spiky ponytail and looked brown, but it was difficult to tell because of the blood that was matted into it. He was in the fetal position and was curled as far away from the opening as possible. From their viewpoint, the two hunters could tell that he had been hurt extensively due to the amount of cuts and bruises on his body and the boy was even crying. His hiccups were nearly silent but were audible when he choked on a couple of sobs.

The two glanced at each other, unsure of how to approach the situation. Cautiously, X knelt in front of the boy and reached out to gently place his hand on his head. The body recoiled violently as a hoarse yelp came from the body. He curled tighter in on himself, shying away from what he believed would be a painful blow.

Seeing that touch wasn't going to help, X finally spoke, "Hey there, young one. There's no need to be afraid of us. We just want to help."

This got a more positive reaction. Bound arms relaxed from their defense stance in front of him and hidden eyes looked in the direction the voice had come from as a confused look appeared on the boy's face. That voice didn't belong to Anteater-sama, Red-sama, or any of his other masters. It was more kind and gentle then the harsher, more aggressive tones of his family members. Who was this person and why was he here?

"I'm going to take the blindfold off, but I need you to come forward a bit more so I can reach without hurting you too much, okay?"

Without hurting him? Why would this person not want to hurt him? Wasn't pain how one showed their affection? He had also done wrong by looking at Boarski-sama in the eye and being unable to answer Crowrang-sama's questions, so he deserved this punishment because he was unable to earn their proper love, didn't he? But if his family really loved him, why would they hurt him like this? And why did he feel like he could trust this kind voice?

"Are you okay, kid?" came a deep, but just as gentle voice.

The young reploid looked in the direction the new voice came from with a curious expression this time. There were two? What did they want? Why did they want to 'help' him? He was thinking too much again. Tonion-sama had said that if he thought too much, people wouldn't love him anymore and he would be abandoned. However, curiosity got the better of him as he slowly scooted forward towards the area the voices had come from.

"That's good. Now I'm going to take the blindfold off, okay?" the softer voice said as the youngest reploid felt two gloved hands reach around his head to the knot at the back. He flinched, fearing a punishing blow instead of a helping hand, but the hands stopped and didn't continue their task until his body relaxed a little.

"We are not going to hurt you, kid," Came the deeper voice again, "We just want to help, that I can promise you."

Those gentle hands untied the knot and carefully pulled the cloth away from the boy's eyes. He kept his eyes closed so as not to offend these new people (more than likely reploids but the sounds he heard and the gloved hands), just in case they turned out to be like those in his family, but instead he heard the breath of the two people catch once the cloth was removed. This startled the child. Had he done something wrong?

Suddenly, he felt fingers touch the bridge of his nose where he knew the center of his scar was, causing him to jump. However, like before, the fingers were gentle and made no indication that they were going to harm him. He heard the shuffling of armor and a light tap on the ground, which meant that the other had knelt too.

"Will you open your eyes, please?" the deep voice asked.

Why was he asking? Shouldn't he just command him to do so? That's what his family did. These reploids were completely different from Red-sama and the others. Just who were they? And why did he feel…content in their presence?

Deciding to stop his inner questioning, the boy slowly opened his eyes, revealing tear-stained, deep green eyes. Blinking to adjust his eyes to the dimly-lit room, the boy focused on the red and blue blobs in front of him. As his vision cleared, he began to make out the details on the two faces in front of him. Their expressions were one that he had not seen often. Sadness? No, it was a little more than that. Pain? Maybe, but they didn't seem injured at all. Concern? But why would they be concerned for him?

"It's you," The red one said, with an undertone of shock.

'_They know me? How?_' the boy thought, he couldn't remember ever seeing them before, so how did they know him?

Noticing his confused expression, X smiled gently at the slightly shivering, hiccuping body. "We met a couple of weeks ago, remember? You were with Red and he had you get the suitcase for him."

Focusing on the blue reploid's eyes, he felt a bit of recognition in his mind, but it was unclear. He remembered meeting two reploids on his last mission with Red-sama, but he never got a good look at them. Although, the green eyes he was staring into looked very familiar. Taking a deep breath, the boy prayed that he wouldn't get punished by these two for asking a few questions.

"Who are you?" asked a small, scratchy voice.

X and Zero were stunned. This boy didn't know who they were. Even newly activated reploids who were not programmed with the knowledge of the two S-class hunters knew about them within the first week or so of activation. Did Red Alert shelter this boy so much that he didn't even know he was in the presence of two of the greatest hunters in all reploid history?

Despite the boy's lack of knowledge, X couldn't help but smile. This child's will was strong, despite how broken his eyes were. He was always on guard and expected pain when someone was showing kindness, but he always gave someone a chance no matter who they were.

Looking at his red companion and meeting his icy blue gaze, X saw that the same endearing smile that was on his face was also on Zero's. This boy was innocent despite what was happening to him. He just needed someone to guide him back on the right path and help him heal. And the two of them felt that it was their job to do so.

"My name is X, and this is my partner Zero."

The child simply nodded, "It is nice to meet you, X-sama, Zero-sama."

The two smiled gently at him and chuckle lightly. It made him feel warm. They had not hurt him for looking them in the eye and did not seem offended when he asked questions and for not knowing who they were. This made him start to think: what was he supposed to believe? That affection was shown through kindness or through harshness?

"There is no need for honorifics, just call me X. Now why are you here, young one?" X asked.

"This is my punishment," The boy said quietly, tears that had stopped starting to gather in his eyes again.

Zero gave him a confused look, "Punishment for what?"

"I looked Boarski-sama in the eye when I'm not supposed to and I was unable to answer Crowrang-sama's questions. I was bad and they said that if I don't learn from my mistakes and do stuff for them, then they won't love me anymore and will abandon me."

"But how is torturing you and draining you of your energy showing you they love you?" Zero asked, clearly flabbergasted by the way Red Alert worked.

"They said they loved me and that that's how people show their affection, through punishment for wrongdoings. I've been doing bad lately so they've been upping my training to make me be good," Why did X-sama look like he was going to cry? And why did Zero-sama look so angry? Did he upset them with his answer? This was how everyone trained, wasn't it?

"That-that's how things go…isn't it?" The boy's voice had lost its carefree tone and was trembling in fear.

X was quick to calm the child, "No, no, sweetheart, you did nothing wrong."

The blue reploid reached out to comfort the boy, but those verdant eyes froze up in fear again before he curled back into a ball and began to whimper.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I won't ask any more questions. I'll be good. I promise."

This reaction shocked and enraged both hunters to the core. Those bastards had the boy associating pain with affection and were punishing the boy's curious nature. Just like a human child, this child had a natural curiosity, and Red was taking advantage of it to turn this kid into his puppet.

Lowering his hand, X called out to the young reploid, "I'm the one who should be sorry, young one. I frightened you and I am truly sorry for that. May you look at me again? There's something I would like to explain to you."

Slowly, the boy uncurled once more. His legs lowered so that he was sitting Indian style and his bound arms were lying on his crossed legs. Once the child returned his gaze towards the two hunters, X continued, "Young one, you have a naturally curious mind. That is something that you should not be ashamed of. It was Boarski, Crowrang, Red, and the others that have done wrong. Looking someone in the eye is not a bad thing. And being unable to answer a question just means that you must learn more so that you have the knowledge for another time."

Then Zero spoke up, "And pain is not how one's shows another that they care. Torment and fear are ways to dominant someone, not to show their affection. "

"B-but why would they lie to me? I thought they loved me," The scarred body was trembling, confused on what to believe. Then the dim light around him vanished as Zero had started to reach out to examine the cables on the bound wrists and he cowered into his defensive ball again. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I won't ask any more questions! I'll be good."

"Hey, hey, it's okay, kid. I'm not going to hurt you. Watch me, ok? I'll show you that we mean no harm," Zero said gently. When a terrified, tear-filled gaze met his, he carefully moved his hands to the bound wrists to grasp at the heavy cable there. "I can remove these if you want. They don't look very comfortable."

No pain? These people really didn't want to hurt him, just help him. Was all that Red-sama taught him just a lie? What was true and what wasn't? Maybe he could find the answers from X-sama and Zero-sama. They didn't punish him for asking questions like his family and they hadn't given him any reason to think that they were just using him. So maybe he could believe in them.

Holding out his wrists, the boy nodded to Zero, who took that as a sign to cut the ropes. He drew his saber and ignited the blade, but forgot to warn the boy of his actions. When he saw the bright green plasma blade extend from its hilt, the small reploid freaked and his body tensed, once again expecting pain.

X was quick to rectify the child's fears, "It's okay, young one. The ropes are really tough, so Zero's going to use his saber to cut through them. Just hold your wrists steady for him and he'll get the ropes off. Zero won't hurt you, he promised you that, didn't he?"

The boy nodded once more and braced himself, suddenly unsure of his decision to accept their help. With a quick flick of his wrist, Zero severed the cables and sheathed his sword. The young reploid looked at him in awe. He had never seen such swordsmanship. Not even Red-sama, with all his skills with his double-scythe, could have been able to do that.

Zero smirked, "Impressive, huh? I can teach you, if you want. That is, if you want to come with us."

X smiled and nodded in agreement. "We can help you and keep things like this from ever happening to you again."

The boy looked up in shock. Leave Red Alert and his family? Would that be right? Wouldn't he be punished severely for abandoning his family? But…was this really how family treated one another? Or was what X-sama and Zero-sama offering the real thing? The boy looked down in thought. He was thinking too much again, but…it wouldn't hurt to try, would it?

"O-ok. I'll…go with you," The child said hesitantly, still unsure if his decision was the right one.

X and Zero each held out a hand for the boy to take. With a large amount of hesitation, small hands grasped those of the hunters and the smaller reploid was carefully lifted out of the metal prison. The boy wobbled a bit, but stayed steady as small rivets of blood trickled from the cuts that had still not healed.

Suddenly, Zero chuckled, "You know, we're taking you home with us, but we don't even know your name, kid."

X smiled, "Doesn't matter, but we do need to know what to call you. You do have a name, don't you?"

The boy looked down at his clasped hands, studying his nearly purple wrists as he thought. What name should he give them? The name (more like title) that Red-sama and the others called him, or the one he knew was his real name. Do they care which name? No, X-sama said that they just needed a name to call him. He really liked his real name, but no one ever called him by it since Red-sama found him and asked the same question. Looking up with determined eyes, he decided to give these two reploids the name he wanted to be called.

"My name…is Axl."

_-IAMTHEENDINGSEPARATIONBAR-LOVEMEMORE-_

**Me: O.o Holy mother of bacon, ten pages. This is the longest chapter I have ever written for ANY of my stories.**

**Emma: I'm impressed. See? I told you you could do it. Imagination is a powerful thing. Though I nearly cried. Poor Axl.**

**Me: Yep, nearly all of this chapter was freehand, so I am impressed with myself. Thanks for the support Emma.**

**Emma: No prob.**

**Me: *looks around* where are the others?**

**Emma: Well, Axl's eating ice cream, cake, and cookies to get over the fact that this chapter was really depressing to him. I don't blame him either.**

**Me: I know, I know. I was crying through most of it. It broke my heart doing this to my Axl. I SWEAR IT WILL GET BETTER AXL!**

**Axl: *in the distance* IT BETTER!**

**Me: And Axl's gonna have a major sugar rush later.**

**Emma: So true….why does that scare me…..**

**Me: Okay, so what about the other three?**

**Emma: Oh, them…well…*scratches back of head, laughing nervously* Spazz and X are having a tug-o-war contest…with Zero as the rope.**

**Me: ….**

**Emma: …**

**Me: And you're not recording it?**

**Emma: …*blushes* Forte's doing that for me.**

**Me: Oh, Forte's here now?**

**Emma: Yep! He got bored in his black hole so he decided to come see what the chaos was all about.**

**Me: So he's enjoying himself?**

**Emma: More or less. Haven't heard anythi-**

**Forte: *in the distance* WOOT! GO SPAZZ! BEAT THAT UKE AT HIS OWN GAME!**

**Zero: *also in the distance* OMG! STOP PULLING MY HAIR, WOMEN! X! LET GO BEFORE SHE RIPS MY HAIR OFF!**

**X: *in the distance as well* NOT GONNA HAPPEN! THIS FANGIRL NEEDS TO LEARN HER PLACE! AND IT'S NOT WITH YOU!**

**Spazz: *screaming so loud you can't tell if she's in the distance or not* MY ZERO! MINE! MIIIIIIINNNNNNNEEEEEEEEE!**

***Emma and I look at each other***

**Me: Shall we join?**

**Emma: Absolutely.**

**Me: Well, R&R please and I'll see you next chapter. LATER!**

**Emma: This view is golden. WHERE'S THE POPCORN, REZ?**


End file.
